The Act provides for the registration of trade marks in respect of goods and services. The protection afforded by registration extends to the use of an identical mark or a mark so nearly resembling the registered mark as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion, in relation to the goods or services in respect of which the mark is registered.

The Act provides for registrations of trade marks in Part A or Part B of the register; certification marks are registered in Part C of the register; defensive marks are registered in Part D of the register.

Types of Trademarks registrable

Zimbabwe operates a “Single- class” registration system (A separate application is required for each class of goods).
There are provisions for the registration of certification marks, defensive marks, series marks and service marks.

The 45 classes of the International Classification of goods and services is adhered to

Documents required for trademark registration

• Simply signed power of attorney
• Particulars of the applicant.
• The list of goods and classes pertaining thereto.
• Prints of the trademark (not required for word mark).
• Declaration whether the mark is in use or intended to be used in Zimbabwe
• Certified copy of priority document in English translation (where applicable)

Renewals

Trademark registrations are for a period of 10 years from the date of application and renewable for further periods of 10 years thereafter.

Renewals documents

No documents required.

Assignments/Mergers

• Power of Attorney, simply signed.
• Deed of Assignment or other instrument of title, with verified English translation.

Change of Name

• Power of Attorney, simply signed.
• Certificate of Change of Name, with verified English translation.

Change of Address

Power of Attorney, simply signed.

Licences/Registered Users

• Powers of Attorney, simply signed, from proprietor and licensee.
• Declaration and Statement of Case, with verified English translation.
• Licence Agreement, with verified English translation.

Patent protection is available by way of a national filing or via an ARIPO or PCT application designating Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has implemented the Harare Protocol (which regulates patent and design filings in ARIPO) in its national law, thereby giving valid patent protection to applicants seeking to obtain a patent via an ARIPO application.

Since Zimbabwe is a member of the Paris Convention, a national application may claim priority based on an earlier application in a convention country.

Zimbabwe has also implemented the provisions of the PCT in its national law, thereby recognizing and affording valid patent protection in the case of international PCT applications designating Zimbabwe.

Filing Requirements

National Phase PCT Application

• Power of Attorney (simply signed)
• Specification, claims and abstract in English
• Formal drawings, if applicable
• International Patent Classification
• Assignment of Invention
• Copy of Published International Application
• Copy of International Search Report
• Copy of International Preliminary Report on Patentability

Patents of Invention (Non-PCT):

• Power of Attorney (simply signed)
• Specification, claims and abstract in English
• Formal drawings, if applicable
• International Patent Classification
• Assignment of Invention
• Priority document with verified English translation

Grant:

The term of a patent is twenty years from the filing date.

Renewal

Renewal fees fall due annually commencing on the third anniversary of the filing date

Design protection is available by a national filing or via an ARIPO application designating Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has implemented the Harare Protocol (which regulates patent and design filings in ARIPO) in its national laws, thereby giving valid design protection to applicants seeking to obtain a design registration via an ARIPO application.

Filing Requirements

• Power of Attorney
• Drawings or photographs of design
• Certified copy of priority document, if priority claimed, with verified English translation
• Assignment document

Duration and Renewal

Design registration is valid for an initial period of ten years, which is renewable upon payment of the required fees for a further term of five years.

Zimbabwe is a member of the Berne Convention and the WTO/TRIPS.

The Act provides for the following works to be eligible for copyright protection:

• literary works
• musical works
• artistic works
• audiovisual works
• sound recordings
• broadcasts
• programme-carrying signals
• published editions.

Literary works are further defined to include:

• dramatic works, stage directions, film scenarios, broadcasting scripts
• letters, reports, memoranda
• lectures, addresses and sermons
• computer programs
• tables and compilations of data.

Artistic works are further defined to include:

• graphic works, photographs, sculptures or collages (irrespective of artistic quality)
• works of architecture
• works of artistic craftsmanship.

Graphic works are further defined to include:

• paintings, drawings, diagrams, maps, charts or plans
• engravings, etchings, printed circuits, lithographs, woodcuts.

The following items and documents are not eligible for copyright:

• ideas, procedures, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discoveries, facts or figures
• news of the day, items of press information
• speeches of a political nature, or delivered in the course of legal proceedings
• official texts of enactments or Bills
• official records of judicial proceedings
• notices, advertisements published in the Gazette
• applications, specifications published in the Patent and Trade Marks Journal
• entries in any register kept in terms of an enactment.